The Truth About Separating Yourself From The Multitude of Humanity

Should You Separate Yourself From The Multitude of Humanity?

A famous quote by well revered author Og Mandino

“Separate yourself now from the multitude of humanity so that you will be able to control your own destiny. Remember that what others think and say and do need never influence what you think and say and do.”
– Og Mandino

I love this quote because of how it makes me think, and reflect on all the actions I’ve made in my life.

However I’ve come to realise just how difficult it is to actually ‘control your own destiny’.

Hence this blog post is about the truth of separating yourself from the multitude of humanity – what lies ahead for an individual who manages to do this, and whether or not they’ll achieve true happiness.

I can only speak from my own experiences, as well as the experience of others I’ve spoken to.

Unanimously; we don’t believe that it is ideal to separate ourselves from the multitude of humanity, and here is why.

We Don’t Hate Society

Over the years of speaking with friends, select members of my family, as well as some acquaintances, I’ve noticed that many people actually despise society. What it is, how it is made up, and how it operates.

However, whilst I may disagree with the ideals and expectations our society forces upon us, I don’t hate it.

Why?

Because I am a part of it.

Some of my goals in the future are to change society; rather the parts I feel are mentally and physically damaging towards our youth.

The way certain beliefs are heralded, accepted and distributed in particular – all for the sake of creating confusion among our communities, with regards to how they should live their lives.

On the other side of the coin, separating ourselves may very well be a good thing. But this depends on a very important factor.

Are you separating yourself because you want to create your own niche, your own beliefs and values born from your own individualistic analysis of the world? Or are you doing so, purely because you hate the way the world currently works? Or maybe it’s both?

My Interpretation

The first question I ask myself is, “what does it even mean to separate yourself from humanity?”

For me, it means to analyse and question every existing belief I have about a subject, relating to myself and the world, and to ask myself whether I agree or disagree with it.

Personally, I feel the worst thing anybody can do is to become a non-conformist for the sake of doing so.

To be different and unique “just because”.

Not only is it more difficult to live and function as a healthy human being today, but also because the perceived sense of ‘righteousness’ could easily become overt stubbornness.

You may even end up depressed if you don’t agree fundamentally with what you’re doing, as you’re only participating in said activity in order to elicit a positive response from others.

As I’ve said many times in the past.

“Don’t hold yourself back in any way or form, for there are people out there doing a far better job at that, than you’ll ever be able to do.”

There Is High-Risk Involved

It’s probably the most difficult sets of decisions you’ll ever make in your life.

I’ve ridden with the status-quo countless times, and if I had the opportunity to reenact and change certain events from the past in favour of following my own ideals, I’d do so without hesitation.

Let’s take a look at the world of work.

Among my peers, ‘getting a job’ is the rudimentary accepted notion for an individual who has recently graduated from university.

It is the done thing, but it doesn’t make it a right or wrong life decision.

However, it is seen as the ideal step a young person should take, without much thought and consideration for alternative options.

How often at school, college or University was there an opportunity to explore the world of self-employment? Very little in all honesty.

I don’t think I even understood what the term self-employment even meant until I left college.

Society as a whole, trains our children to become efficient worker bees rather than forward thinkers. This isn’t ‘bad’ per-se, it’s just the preferred method of growing an organisation, all in the name of getting your ‘foot on the ladder’.

Besides, most businesses fail and close-up shop within their first 5 years.

Online businesses are even more prevalent of perpetual failure, as the low barrier to entry enables so many individuals to jump in, create a website and expect to be raking in millions before their next birthday.

It’s predominantly this level of risk which puts self-employment as a viable option in the backburner, with regards to career options and progression.

Funnily enough, the same applies to almost anything else which requires huge sacrifices for huge rewards in the future.

Loneliness

Another one of the difficulties of separating yourself from the multitude of humanity, is the potential for loneliness to creep into your life.

Take a look at marriage for example; despite divorce still being on the rise, marriage is still the preferred method of ‘proving to the world’ (the world really doesn’t care), how much you love someone.

Whilst I’m a huge advocate of co-habitual relationships, and prenuptial agreements – there is no doubt that those who are in such positions are considered slightly odd, or less role-model worthy by society at large.

The same applies to the drinking culture amongst the youth in the UK.

Especially in universities.

You don’t drink?

You’re either religious or there is something wrong with you.

However this sense of loneliness does provide one major advantage. The power of solitude and finding the right people to spend your life with.

In other words, by creating your own niche (doing your own thing), you are opening up the doors to those who agree and believe in what you do.